Gun 'Em Down
by this be a dead account
Summary: Sasori has never expected more from life than what was given in his hometown. But objection to his humble plan arrives, in the form of a seductive, armed blonde. Futuristic AU, DeiSaso and slight ItaSaso. ON A HIATUS.
1. Middle of Nowhere

A/N: Okay, I've had this idea for over two months; since the start of June, really. So in NO WAY have I copied anything from my dearie I Spaz With Pizzazz's story, _Gun To My Head_, though you should still definitely check it out. :D I worked on it during Taiwan instead of Lightning, -coff- and finished it on the airplane!! Also, the POV will constantly change between Sasori, Deidara, and a few more characters at random. I'll try to make it as stupidly clear who's POV it is without writing it out and making you feel insulted. As for the very beginning part on the cliffside with the gunz... you decide. ;D A few more notes about the story at the end of this chapter. Otherwise, have fun and please R&R! 3

**Credits: **-insert clever disclaimer- I Spaz With Pizzazz beta'd this for me, she did. -hugg-

* * *

**Gun 'Em Down  
Chapter 1**

_"You can't do this!" My voice was hoarse with terror and disbelief as I looked into his smug, triumphant eyes. The breath was caught fast in my throat, and I couldn't inhale without shuddering. The rocks under my feet scrabbled as I stumbled shakily back, and I could feel the ledge under my heels._

_"But I just did." He purred, a sick smirk curling his lips. My eyes widened as he cocked the heavy machine that he wielded, the ominous click being followed by many others from his comrades' weapons. Bile rose in my throat as it sunk in that he was dead serious._

_I couldn't back up any more; by now, the edge of the cliff was jutting into the arch of my feet. My stomach flipped as my balance wavered for a moment, and I flailed my arms to stay on the ground. I could hear them laughing at my pitiful performance, and when I looked up, his gun was aimed between my eyes. I staggered a bit more, my chest frozen as my lungs refused to take in any air. The world spun quickly, and then my feet slipped backwards on the rocks._

_"Fuck," I spat bitterly before falling, the sounds of gunfire ringing in my ears._

* * *

The air outside was immensely humid; inhaling, my lungs seemed to fill with the liquid atmosphere. I blinked, looking towards the mountain that loomed above the town, the peak extending past the topmost clouds. It was a miracle that the range still even existed, what with the new construction the world was rushing to create.

I'd go to the tallest peak; it'd help me relax after the exams I'd had to take that day. Slinging a leg over a side of my hoverbike, I turned on the magnet, and an electric buzz hummed through the air as the bike rose slightly. I pulled away from the parking lot, not bothering to take out my crash helmet. Despite the new technology of the world, Boone was still the laziest town in North Carolina.

Weaving through the various cars that blared at me in annoyance, I reached my apartment quickly enough. Parking my hoverbike next to the building, I dismounted as the magnets stopped their circulation, letting the vehicle rest on the ground. Entering the lobby, the manager looked lazily up from her newspaper, blinking blearily at me. "Sasori," she greeted monotonously. I nodded back at her, before moving up the stairs to my room on the second floor. Sometimes, I seriously regretted getting an apartment, instead of just staying in a dorm on campus. However, I'd lived in that orphanage long enough to get sick of having a likewise environment, full of screeching teenagers who insisted on having Nerf water gun fights in the building.

Jamming my key into the lock of my beaten door, I pressed my full weight against the wooden barrier, praying it would eventually give way. Finally, the paint that stuck the door to its frame cracked, and I entered my apartment. It was extremely sparse, comprising of only a shabby kitchen, one miniscule bedroom and an attached bathroom.

I threw my wallet onto the couch, calling out to no one in particular, "I'm home, and my day was fine, thanks." Sitting down at my sofa, I mused aloud, "When do we want to go to the mountain?" Pondering this, I replied slowly, "We want to go now so I can stop talking to myself like a schizophrenic nutcase." God, twenty years of life without family or friends was finally taking its toll on me.

I walked to my sink, filling a Filter-Clean™ bottle with the liquid. Idly, I watched the container filter the water, the debris being sucked into the chamber as it drained away the chlorine and God-knew-what-else this place had running through the waterlines. Once the process was done, I pulled the filter chamber out of the bottle, wringing out the contents in my sink. Sighing, I threw my cell phone on the table next to my wallet. No way in hell was I going to get a signal up in the mountain range, much less a call, to start with.

Done, I walked out to my bike, nodding again at the landlady on my way out. Reaching under the hoverbike's handle-bar, I unfastened the helmet and placed it on my head before mounting the vehicle. The long, winding road up the Appalachians could seriously kill someone.

Said road took about thirty minutes, most of which was just me veering ridiculous corners, as the magnets in the road were old and jerked the bike around. But, the view at the top was amazingly worth it. Once my ears popped, I knew that I was nearing the peak. So I dismounted from my bike, wheeling it into one of the random parking lots that were spread throughout the mountain range. Locking it with the number code on the end of my handlebars, I took off my helmet and clipped it to the bike. This was the furthest I wanted to take it up, and I'd easily hike the rest of the way up.

The humidity was a lot better up there, though when a cloud would drift into me, I would feel just as saturated as before. To my relief, there was nobody left at the top, save for a black SunCar™, a solar-powered rip-off from the SmartCar™. Walking past the vehicle, I made my way up the rocky terrain, past the many signs warning hikers that it was illegal to be up here past seven in the afternoon, due to new, ridiculous safety regulations. I glanced at the digital clock under the words—6:34 PM, Friday. It was no matter; I could scale my way up and down the mountain peak blinded.

I continued to ascend the mountain trail until I broke the path through the blocked off cliffside where I had made it my home. But ducking under the rope restricting hikers from crossing, I saw another figure already sitting in my spot, where no one else ever dared to find, due to the law enforcements. No—not in _my_ spot, but rather next to it, as he'd been waiting for me. I hesitated, debating whether or not I should leave my cliff, and find another place of serenity. Then he turned around, and looked at me with the wide blue eye, his long, golden sheets of hair swinging slightly from the mountain gusts of wind. "Hey there, yeah." And his smile was so sweet, so calm, yet so _contaminated_…

I sat down next to him and greeted him back.

"What're you doing here, yeah?"  
"Uhm, this is where I always go." I amended sheepishly, as if I'd been the one to stumble across his space.

He nodded. "Yeah, it's a really peaceful place, isn't it? My name's Deidara, by the way."

"I'm Sasori. Akasuna." I weakly added my unconfirmed surname.

A small, twisted smile flitted across his face for the briefest moment, andthen it disappeared, leaving his features as smooth as before. "So, you're a college student, yeah?"

"Yes, just in this town. And you?"

He moved a black gloved hand at the setting sun coolly. "No, I got special teachings for that, if you will, yeah. I work with the government now."

"You don't look like it," I commented, looking at his apparel, which consisted of a fishnet top with a black belly tank top over it, matching loose pants, and fingerless gloves. Even his high ponytail somehow commanded impressive attention. He seemed the opposite of what I'd always imagined the government—stiff suits and matching faces.

Deidara chuckled lightly, tugging a strand of his hair. "Yeah, I surprise a lot of people about that. What year are you in, anyways? In college, I mean?"

"I'm a junior," I answered, not wanting the conversation directed towards me.

"Really? You look like a sophomore. In high school. No offense, yeah."

I cringed, but answered, "None taken. And I get that a lot anyhow. I've always had a growth problem or something."

"Hm, that couldn't have been fun, yeah. So what're you majoring in?"

"Biology. I did Pre-Med too, though I still have no idea what I want to be."

"At _that_ college? Biology?"

"Well, I was raised in the orphanage close by, and without parental support, it was too big a trouble to move far away…"

"I'm an orphan too, yeah."

I paused, looking at him with widened eyes. "Seriously?"

He nodded casually, as if it were no coincidence at all. "Yeah, but it's never been a big deal, just two less adults in my life."

"…Not to pry, but since when have you been orphaned?" I asked as politely as I could, turning the conversation toward him.

"Ah, since birth. Before, even." But he seemed to firmly object explaining 'before', so I moved on.

"So… how long since you've been in Boone?" Great subject transition, Sasori, you dumbass!

Deidara shrugged, his fingers flicking up in a count. "I don't know, maybe a week? I'm on business, yeah, and I'm supposed to stay as long as it takes for me to do my job."

Interested, I continued. "How long do you expect it to take?"

"That honestly depends. There's a federal problem with someone here, yeah, and I have to get it sorted out. Problem being, I don't know my way around town, and when I'm not working on him, it gets really boring, yeah."

"Well, this mountain's amazing… It's where I unwind when I'm stressed."

He laughed, the vocal gesture harmonizing beautifully with his voice. "I kind of just saw the biggest freaking thing here and drove to it, yeah."

I smiled in return, thinking. Deidara seemed like someone I could trust, and he really was new in Boone. "…I could show you around sometime," I offered, mentally kicking myself as soon as the words left my tongue. Every lesson about not instantly trusting strangers, that I'd heard from the orphanage came flooding back, but his gorgeous azure eye lighting up in gratitude forced me to abandon all of it.

"Really? I was hoping you'd say that, yeah."

I couldn't help it, but the smile grew into a grin.

"But don't you have friends you'd rather hang out with?" He asked concernedly.

A breath of air fell from my lungs. "I have no friends, but I'm not going to spill some tragic story of how they all hated me."

My new acquaintance cocked his head slightly. "Why then, yeah?"

I shrugged carelessly. "Just that no one I ever met appealed to me as a friend. They all seem so… material, I don't think I'd click with them."

Deidara nodded in what I thought might've been approval. "Better lacking bonds than to have them and break them later on, yeah. And thanks, for offering to take me around."

"Anytime. It's not like I've got much else to do."

"Anywhere I should meet you?"

I considered this for a moment, before returning. "I work at the Lone Star; it's a dingy little restaurant near the South Coast hotel. Following?"

"I think I know what you're talking about, yeah."

"Just go there anytime, Saturdays through Wednesdays. I get off at six."

"Thanks, yeah. I really appreciate it."

"It's fine, really."

Then, he reached into a pocket, pulling out a buzzing silver phone, apparently on vibrate. He glared at the caller ID screen a moment before lifting a finger. "Hold on. Sorry, it's my jackass boss, yeah." Pressing a button, he put the device to his ear. "Deidara." Listening for a moment, he snapped, "I'm under Clouds now, Yahiko. It's not the best idea for formalities, yeah." Another pause. "Look, I'll get back to you later and give you a full summary, okay?" Impatiently, he stabbed another button, stuffing the phone back into his pocket. "Stupid asswipe… worst timing ever, yeah."

I blanched in shock. "Did you hang up on your boss?"

He shrugged generically. "Ah, whatever. Yahiko deserves it anyways, yeah."

"But—won't you get in trouble?"

He shook his head easily. "Nah, he _needs_ me, yeah. He wouldn't dare drop me. And," he added, "isn't it 7:20 now? We're not supposed to be up here anymore."

"Oh, that's fine," I assure him, standing up. "It's an easy walk down. Just follow me." Carefully skirting the lip of the cliff and the tree-choked ravine below, I led the way down the peak looking back at him once in a while.

Reaching the topmost parking lot, he thanked me before getting into the black SunCar, which apparently belonged to him. "I'll drop by tomorrow, if that's alright, yeah."

I nodded in agreement. "That's fine. So, see you soon then?"

He started up the vehicle, the solar panel on his room humming softly, as it struggled to suck up the faint, remaining sunlight. "Yeah, and do you need a ride?"

"No thanks," I declined, starting to walk away. "My hoverbike's just in the next parking lot."

"Okay, if that's what you have. Later, Sasori." And then he pulled away, bright blue eye regarding my reflection in the side mirrors.

**--xoxoxo--**

As I left the redhead on the mountain road, I reached into my pocket, retrieving the phone. Pressing a speed dial, I replaced it at my ear, hearing a computerized female's voice.

_"Midori's Bridal Gowns, how may I help you?"_

"Deidara Iwa, password Katsu."

The feminine tone was gone, taken by Yahiko's. _"Well?"_

"You called me while I was talking to the Hitokugutsu, Yahiko," I snarled, annoyance obvious in my voice.

_"Tone down the attitude, Iwa, or I might just call you off. But you already found it?"_

"It's a male. Kabuto's records were right, just a bit outdated, yeah."

_"How so? What'd you get?"_

"His name is Sasori Akasuna, he's a junior at Appalachian State University, has an interest in biology, has no idea of his Hitokugutsu powers, and works at a restaurant, probably for tourists, titled Lone Star."

_"That's it? You didn't even get his number?"_

"He's taking me on a tour of this town tomorrow, yeah, so shut the hell up."

There was a moment's silence on Yahiko's end, before he returned, a dry chuckle sounding on the phone. _"Give me as much attitude as your little heart desires, Iwa. You're a gift, you are. How soon can I expect you back?"_

"I'm not sure yet," I admitted. "Give me another month at least."

_"A _month_?!"_ He spluttered, making my ear ache.

"He's dangerous, didn't you tell me? I'm not going to do something assheaded and get stabbed through by one of those freaky tails like Hiruko's yeah!"

_"Fine, but make it clean, Iwa."_ Yahiko growled bad-naturedly.

"Is it ever any other way?" I asked back, my voice sweet.

_"Just don't kill anyone, you know the mess we got last time you went on such a long-term mission, yeah."_

"It's fine, stop fretting your pretty little head about it." I snarled.

_"Alright, I'll leave it to you then. Oh, and keep your gloves on at all costs."_

"Yeah, yeah, Mom, bye."

_"I still expect to hear from you!"_

Only mumbling something back, I hung up on him again. Yahiko had no cause to worry though. This mission was going to be amazingly simple, but it was only so easy for me alone. I'd probably need to talk to Orochimaru though… Humming a note of indecisiveness, I finally jabbed in the snake freak's number, steering down the rugged road.

_"Deidara Iwa?"_ Came the reptilian voice in surprise.

"Miss me yet, Snakey?" I could picture his pale face scowling darkly on the other end, a humorous satisfaction on my part.

_"Don't plan on it, Terrorist. What do you want?"_

"The Instantly Effective you were bragging about, yeah."

_"Why so cautious? I thought you were _invincible_." _He purred sickeningly.

"You know how there was a third one?"

_"A third what?"_

"Besides Hiruko and Sandaime. A third Hitokugutsu, yeah."

_"You're getting it?"_ He yelped in shock.

"It's a he. And yeah. Like I said, I need Instantly Effective."

_"How big a dose?" _He asked me, all business now.

"Uh…" I wondered dumbly how doses were calculated.

_"How tall is he? And a guess on his weight?"_

"He's about up to my chin, but I can't be sure, yeah. And maybe a hundred pounds give or take, what with being a puppet and all, yeah."

_"I'll have it ready within a week. When do you need it?"_

"Not 'til the end of the month, yeah."

_"Perfect. Good doing business with you, Deidara."_

"I beg to differ." Ending the call with my last rude comment, I slipped my phone back into my pocket. This could end up being possibly the most exciting mission I'd ever been given.

* * *

A/N: Yes, there are gunz. But not yet. Sorry. And I also apologize if it's confusing. Everything will eventually be explained in the end though! Oh, and Orochimaru's not a rapist in this fic! :D Uhmmm... can't think of anything else to explain at the given moment. Any questions and I'll try to answer them as best as I can in your reviews. Speaking of, little purplish-gray button in the bottom left corner of your screen... clickies? :D


	2. Always a First

A/N: Whoo! Chapter two out before school starts- my goal is fulfilled. :D Okay, nothing really to tell you, but this chapter takes place the next day, and the POV changes three times. A note at the bottom that I beg you to read after you're done with the chapter. D: Oh, and I beta'd this myself, so please point out any stupid mistakes. XD

**Credits: **None of this is mine, except the futuristic shit. Yay!

* * *

**Gun 'Em Down  
Chapter Two**

"Akasuna, table six!" Barked the angry voice of the manager.

Rolling my eyes, I flipped to a clean page of my notebook, sliding through the crowd of tourist diners. The reek of nicotine gum filled my nostrils as I passed a gang of hoverbikers, their brawny biceps smacking me in the face repeatedly. Scowling, I ducked under their arms, finally making it to table six with much more difficulty than it should've taken.

It was a family of four, all tourists by their pouches slung around their waists and New York accents. "Hi, my name is Sasori, and I'll be helping you tonight. Anything you want to drink?" My voice was dull and bored, with a thin film of enthusiasm over it, and I could tell, but of course they couldn't, as I distributed the menus.

They ordered their beverages, which I wrote down quickly. "Alright, I'll be back later, so go ahead and decide your appetizers."

I stared hopelessly at the heap of bikers, still standing there. Amazing, the difference between us. And people used to say you could tell a lot about a man by his vehicle. Shrugging, I ducked through the melee once again, emerging on the other side.

The rest of my shift passed in a likewise manner, and by the time the family I was serving had left, I was more than ready to be out of the Lone Star, cursing them for their eating habits that took so long and stalled me.

I moved into the bathroom, stripping off my red employee's shirt, pausing for a moment. Stuffing the uniform into my knapsack, I looked down at my bare chest, cringing. Somehow, the lines were getting more defined… The scars over my body had been there for as long as I knew, and it seemed that as the years crossed by, they were etching themselves deeper into me. There was an odd circle over my left chest plate, a square over my right, and over my stomach, a long rectangle. The lines had begun to faintly appear over my limbs too, such as my arms, legs, and even one around my neck.

Sighing, I tugged out a black, plain shirt, pulling it on instead. "You should go see a doctor," I whispered to myself, raking my fingers through my hair. "For what?" I asked after a moment, wondering this. "Your schizophrenia?" Oh. That made sense. This was strange, because normally, I didn't make sense to myself. "Wait. I thought I was worrying about my scars." I paused again, shrugging my knapsack over a shoulder. "Nah, your schizophrenia's a bigger problem," I decided. If it was really I deciding. God, I had to be fucked up.

Exiting the crammed restaurant, I walked to my hoverbike, about to mount it when a voice called, "Oi, Sasori!"

Blinking, I turned around, my eyes widening in surprise when I saw Deidara. I had forgotten that I'd promised to take him on a tour. "Hey…" I answered numbly. Frozen, I watched as he straightened up from leaning on his black vehicle, walking towards me with a slow, casual stride. He was dressed in black again: A sleeveless jacket with a fishnet shirt underneath, jeans, and his fingerless gloves. Everything about him was commanding and strict, and all too boldly, I was painfully aware of how pathetic I looked next to him.

"Er… Sorry, I forgot." I muttered sheepishly, stepping away from my hoverbike as if it were evidence against me.

He gave me his relaxed, suave grin, before casually taking my hand in his, which surprised me. "It's fine, yeah." With the utter peak of perfection in his movements, he led me to his black car. "I'm not being a burden, am I?" He asked, though I somewhat felt that he already knew the answer, and was asking for the hell of formality.

"N-no," I quickly answered, startled as opened the passenger door for me. Did he honestly trust me that much to let me in his car already? We'd only met a day ago… But my instinct informed me that were I any threat, this blonde newcomer would be more than ready and prepared.

Then again, there was always the problem of the safety measures that _I_ had to take, too. It was one thing for him to trust me, but I didn't know if he had drugged incense sticks or something, or if he'd just knock me out… But I got in the car wordlessly. Once again, I ignored every safety lesson I'd ever learned in the orphanage, and stepped in the car, slamming the door after me. _'Meh,'_ I thought carelessly, _'doesn't matter anyways. I don't have much of a life _to _lose…'_

As Deidara stepped into his own side of the vehicle, he proposed, "So how about if you tell me where to drive, and explain about each place, yeah?"

I nodded numbly, staring ahead. The solar panels whirred softly above our heads, and I sat awkwardly, until I realized that he was waiting for my first instructions. "Oh! Er, sorry. Turn out of the parking lot, and then left for a while." The directions came out of my mouth before I had time to mull things over, and my face heated up. What was I going to show him, our exquisite tech store?

Deidara laughed in his warm voice, obviously finding my behavior amusing. Vaguely in my subconscious, I wondered how such a flawless person had received the misfortune to stumble across a wreck like me.

**--xoxoxo—**

"And this… is our… solar station." He mumbled, shrinking into his seat.

Another smile broke over my face at his attempt to give me something interesting. "It was once a gas station, but they converted it a few years back. It's pretty old and probably full of leakages, so I wouldn't use it."

I could tell that he was really struggling to make an impression on me that Boone wasn't as pathetic as his 'tour-guiding' led it to seem, and unfortunately, that only made my mission all the more appealing. It had to be unfair for a lethal government mutation to be so tempting. Deciding to end the troublesome part of the operation that included this pointless driving, I skipped ahead to another section of tonight's agenda that I found much more interesting. Pulling into a tavern lot, I parked there.

"Deidara, uh, this is a bar."

"I know, yeah. Don't worry, I don't want to go in, just talk to you."

He blinked slightly, surprised. Of course he wouldn't be used to having others showing any interest in him, no matter how fake. His strand didn't fare too well in the social world.

"So what's the strangest thing that's ever happened to you?"

At this question, he lifted an eyebrow, but searched obediently through his memories. Instantly, I had the answer I needed. If he had to think about the question, then he hadn't made any progress in the Hitokugutsu transformation.

"I had an old hoverbike… and while I was on it, it exploded."

I blinked, just barely concealing my morbid interest. "Oh?"

Sasori nodded. "But it wasn't that. The bike was dying anyhow. It was more how when I was thrown off, my head smashed into the concrete, and then another bike accidentally ran over my leg. It wasn't fatal, but I got a concussion and a shattered leg." He faded off, looking at his thumbs in remembrance.

Feeling a vital piece of information coming, I held my breath, waiting for him to continue.

"There were gashes and scars all over my body… But I didn't bleed."

I struggled to bite back the huge grin I felt appearing on my lips. Trying desperately to put a mask of confusion and misunderstanding on my visage, I ended up with a contorted face of smugness. "That's strange… Maybe you were lucky and never broke the skin, yeah?" I suggested, playing the ignorant conversationalist.

He shook his head vigorously, already have stricken down this possibility. "The bone broke straight through my skin. I highly doubt I was that lucky to have all of my veins cleared out its way."

I cocked my head, wondering how far his Hitokugutsu progression really was. Obviously, we'd miscalculated. "That's strange, yeah." I muttered at last, remembering to keep up my charade.

"But we've talked about me more than enough," he suddenly spoke, "what about you?"

"What about me?" I laughed.

"What kind of government job do you do?"

I shrugged, not knowing how to answer this as truthfully as possibly. "Just an everyday agent, I guess. Nothing too exciting, yeah."

Nodding slowly, he continued. "Any luck with the guy you're after?"

His tone was full of genuine concern for me, leaving no doubt of his ignorance.

"Just a bit, yeah. He's really hard to talk straight to though- doesn't quite know what's wrong with what he did."

"What did he do?" Sasori asked, burning curiosity in his words.

I smirked wryly at him. "That's for the government to keep disclosed… sorry, yeah." Sneaking a note of seduction in my voice, I began my ploy to make him fall blindly in love with me. The sooner he did so, the sooner I could get the useless official procedure over with, and work on the trust of our relationship.

He blushed at the subtly dropped hints in my voice instead of mortification and mumbled weakly, "Yeah, should've seen that one coming."

**--xoxoxo--**

"So can you tell me about other trips you've had to go on for your job?" I asked hopefully. His work had to be more fun than mine, even if it was all about briefcases and financials or something…

He leaned back against the seat thoughtfully, twirling a strand of gold hair around a finger. "Well… I got to go to Ohio once, so that was cool, yeah. But mostly, I get people with illegal records, so I have to literally hunt them down… I was in Chillicothe, and that city made it fucking impossible to find him."

I felt my eyebrows lift. "Clever place to hide."

Deidara scowled in remembrance, crossing his arms. "Hell yeah, it was. I went down an alley that I thought I'd seen him going into once and was almost shot at, yeah."

"Almost?" I asked in shock.

"I got that prick before he could really do anything," he stated seriously, his azure eye lowered to look at me honestly.

My breath came out softly, stunned by this information. "…Just _how_ dangerous is your job? And… what, specifically, do you do?"

His luminous eye widened dramatically for a moment, before he blinked, and it returned to its normal size. "It was only that one time that they actually had a _gun_, yeah."

That hardly answered anything, only raising more questions… "What does that—?"

But at that moment, he suddenly moved toward me, his lips slightly agape. My heard skipped a beat wildly as I recalled this same scene from so many romance holograms. I reeled back quickly, but he continued to advance. My fingers went behind my back, fumbling for the handle of the door as Deidara smiled at my shock, his visible eye glowing with some dark emotion that I couldn't exactly place.

This couldn't be happening. I couldn't be getting my first kiss from a guy I'd met only a bit more than twenty-four hours ago. This was absolutely impossible.

But his lips parted slightly, and he moved again. "Deidara, wa- wait, this is- this is too—" My fingers finally found the handle, and I tugged it desperately. Of course, the door sprang open far too quickly, and dragged me along with it. Damn technology.

"Shit..!" My back collided with the sharp gravel, and blinding pain filled my irises. I lay numbly on the small rocks, eyes wide and staring upward.

Suddenly, Deidara filled my whitened vision, the strange emotion gone from his expression, only amusement left there now. "You okay, yeah?"

"…Ow." I mumbled out in reply.

A black glove loomed in front of me, offering assistance. Flushing, I took it, heaving myself back in the car. For a moment, I felt something prodding at my palm, and I looked at our clasped hands in confusion, before Deidara quickly took back his appendage. This felt much more awkward than I would've liked.

"Sorry about that, yeah," he apologized, not the faintest scarlet on his cheeks. How could he remain so calm after he'd sprung something like that on me? Was he used to rejection or something? But his entire existence demanded that denial would be the last thing he'd get from anyone: not a very assuring thought at the moment for me.

"It's fine, I was just really surprised."

To my relief, he didn't continue his terrifying game of allurement, and when he started the car and began to drive again, the ride was actually still full of easy conversation. We somehow both understood that what had happened in the parking lot of the tavern was far behind us, and wouldn't be talked about. However, this didn't stop my own wondering, but I pushed it to the back of my memory, deciding to worry about it at night in my own privacy.

"So," I began, "there's a festival three days from now at the base of the mountain. Are you interested?"

The blue eye looked at me for a moment, before returning to the road. "Sure, I'm free every night anyhow. Should I pick you up again?"

I ruefully rubbed the back of my head. "No, I can go to your hotel and we can go from there. Are you okay with a hoverbike?" He'd better be, because I sure as hell wasn't going in another enclosed space with him. I knew well enough what usually happened after the kissing started in such locations.

"I've never been on one, yeah, but first times for everything, yeah?"

At this, I blushed again, staring fixedly out the window at the blurred scenery. I didn't like the possible implication in that sentence. Thankfully though, he continued to speak as if he hadn't meant anything by the 'first time' reference.

"So I'm staying at the Greystone hotel, yeah, and in three days' time you'll pick me up?"

I nodded in agreement. "I'll work out a meeting time later… So maybe I need your cell phone number." I carefully straightened my voice out to let him know that there was no innuendo behind this request.

"Yeah, I'll give it to you when we're back at the Lone Star, and then can I have yours too?"

For some reason, it surprised me that he asked for my number instead of expecting it. But really… Deidara wasn't that bad. Just a little sudden, but not crude at all. "Okay," I agreed, weaving my fingers together awkwardly.

A few minutes later, we reached the restaurant, and I pulled the miserable remains of a cram sheet for an Anatomy exam out of my pocket, dividing it in two. We exchanged our phone numbers, and then I exited his car.

He opened his window, watching me make my way to my hoverbike. As I swung my leg over the seat and started the magnets, the small vehicle rose into the air, purring contentedly. I smiled at him, lifting a hand. "Thanks, Deidara. See you soon."

"Yeah," he replied, returning the smile kindly.

Clipping on my troublesome helmet, I moved my feet backward suddenly, but hastened to slow my speed. I didn't want to scare Deidara into thinking that I was a homicidal driver, which I wasn't. Not all of the time, anyhow. I waited until I'd cleared the Lone Star and looked back to make sure that the SunCar was also out of view, before I lurched my feet back, leaning forward. Smirking, I only slowed to unclip the helmet and tie it around one handle, before returning to my former speed, lifting the needle a little more than it was meant to go. My hoverbike groaned as the magnets failed under the speed, and the emergency wheels sprang out every two seconds.

Too bad my life couldn't be half as exciting as my rides were.

* * *

A/N: PLEASE understand that the shounen-ai is NOT being rushed!! It's not even shounen-ai, or yaoi, or romance, or anything related to two men getting it on. Because it's not a REAL emotion. D: Does that make sense? x.X" Erm, sorry if I scared you away with the kiss-attempt. TT.TT  
Thanks for reading this far though, loves.  
Reviews really help me write. n.n


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